FOUR batches of Bulakenyo farmers and fisherfolks completed their season-long Farmers’ Field School (FFS) and training courses, acquired additional knowledge to better their crop, and received their certificates and inputs during the Mass Graduation Ceremony held at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium in this city on Wednesday.
Governor Daniel Fernando said that the Provincial Government of Bulacan is in full support on the aspirations of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., who’s also the Agriculture Secretary, to strengthen the agriculture industry in the country.
He also shared that he tightened the watch for the reclassification of land from agriculture to commercial as more and more lands, even the productive ones, are being sold by their owners.
“Nakita naman natin, ano ang naging mahalaga noong pandemya? Pagkain. Kaya napakahalaga po sa atin ng farming. Huwag nating hayaan na mawala ito sa Bulacan. Huwag nating hayaan na mabawasan pa, kasi unti-unti na pong nababawasan ang ating mga lupang sasakahin,” the governor said.
Seventy-four farmers from the towns of San Miguel, San Rafael, and San Ildefonso learned about the new technologies on the FFS on Vegetable Production; 91 rice farmers finished their 14-week Climate Resilient Farm Business School FFS; and 26 pond operators from Hagonoy were taught by the Provincial Agriculture Office in partnership with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 3 on the FFS on Polyculture of Shrimp and Tilapia in Brackishwater Pond using Greenwater Technology.
In addition, a total of 321 farmers finished the 16-week Scaling the Adoption of Pest and Nutrient Management Technologies for Rice in Bulacan Province conducted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute.
Even after the training, the graduates will be monitored by the Agricultural Extension Workers to see the application of their learnings, realize the contributions of these learning to their knowledge, and help them in the improvement of their production and income.
